Bella wasn't sure how she managed to walk into the dungeon. It felt surreal. The damp corridors that once echoed with jeers and scorn were now eerily silent. No knights blocked her path, no sneering guards muttered insults under their breath. Instead, they avoided her altogether, their gazes sliding away as if afraid of what she had become.
The shift unsettled her.
It wasn't respect that kept them at bay, it was fear. The moment they realized who had taken a liking to her, everything changed. It was cruel proof of Cassius's power, how a single glance of his favor could elevate even the lowest slave to a position untouched, beyond reproach, even by the king himself.
That was the kind of authority he held. The kind that made men tremble.
And now, it extended to her.
